Fantastic Four: Remendium
by The One Whoo
Summary: Reed Richards, scientist and genius, has discovered a unique chemical he calls remendium. This chemical comes from another demension he's been studying. Remendium, if added with just the right amount of other stuff, it could cure anything. Short Story
1. Chapter 1

Reed Richards sighed and stepped away from the chalkboard. He'd been working all night on this latest project, and now here it was- finished.

Well, not completely. It still needed to be tested and refined. But that would come later. For now all that mattered was that the main outline had been done: the essence of the whole operation.

The scientist surveyed his work, checking some of the trickier calculations for the hundredth time. Satisfied, Reed grinned and turned around, coming face to face with Sue as he did.

Susan Richards was used to Reed's all-nighters. After all, you had to adapt when it came to science and the scientists who practiced it. Having a scientist for a husband, on top of being a superhero, could be trying sometimes. However, Sue had faced worse; intergalactic siege, gigantic invincible tyrants, childbirth.

"Ah-Hem," Sue cleared her throat and folded her arms.

"Is there something I've…forgotten?" Reed asked innocently.

"You said you'd take the kids to school today. You know how I have that breakfast date with Ben and Alicia?"  
Reed groaned. "I'm sorry, but the spacious quadrants took a lot longer than I thought to factor in all the variables, and there's still room for error, I couldn't cover all the-"

Sue shook her head. "It's okay. I was just wondering if you were _ever_ going to spend time with our children. We have two you know. One's named Franklin and the other's named…"  
Reed's blackberry had beeped it was instantly in his hands. His eyes scanned the screen and the dim light reflected off his glasses.

"-Victor von Doom." Sue sighed. Reed hadn't even flinched. "Well, when you want to continue this discussion, feel free." She stomped semi-angrily out of the lab.

Reed didn't even acknowledge her fiery exit. His eyes were going wider and wider as he read the email.

He looked up slowly, eyes not focusing, and he sat down heavily in a folding chair next to a desk.

"No…" he whispered.

* * *

Benjamin Grimm sat in the kitchen in the Fantastic Four's headquarters, the Baxter Building. The Brooklyn native didn't spend much time in the Baxter lately, busying himself with regular excursions to races or boxing matches. The Baxter just felt so empty to him, even though it had hundreds of people in it at most times.

Ben bit into the gigantic sandwich he'd made for lunch, happy that, for once, Johnny wasn't there to disrupt him.

Johnny Storm, younger brother of Sue, was currently in Japan, studying the ancient art of something or other. He'd decided, after a humiliating battle with a ninja assassin just a week ago, that he needed to get out and learn some real fighting techniques.

Ben shook his head. Yeah right. That'd last like two weeks.

He tilted his head. With his nonexistent ears, he could hear the faint hum of the refrigerator, and farther away, the cars on the street many stories below. Other than that, however, the living quarters of the Four were oddly silent. No Johnny at the TV, no Sue in the gym, no Franklin and Valeria fighting, no Reed making things explode in his lab…

But Reed was home, wasn't he?

Ben finished off his sandwich and belched loudly. He hadn't noticed Reed leave. Maybe he'd fallen asleep in the lab again. That would explain Sue's look as she had gone out the door earlier.

Ben got to his feet and walked towards the hallway, the ground trembling with every step.

Reed had his head slumped to the side when Ben arrived in the lab. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be asleep.

Ben didn't really care. He lumbered forward and shook Reed.

"Whoa!" Reed blinked slowly. "Oh. I must've fallen asleep on the-"

"Reed, don't'cha gotta be somewhere or something?"

The scientist blinked. "I'm…Not quite sure Ben. Did Sue assign me to something and forget to inform me of the fact again?"

Ben shrugged. "I jus' thought she said you'd get the little kiddos from school today, since you dropped 'em off this morning too."  
Reed stood up. "What time is it?"  
"Uh," Ben checked the clock on the wall. "One. How come?"  
Reed rubbed his forehead. "I've been sleeping for _hours_. Argh. So much wasted time."  
"Well ya did stay up all night last night."

"It doesn't matter," Reed growled. "I'll go get the children." His eyes widened. "The children."

Ben raised a rocky eyebrow. "Yeh?"

"Ben, can you do me a miniscule favor and retrieve the children? I have…Something to do."  
He shrugged. "Sure. Not like I had anything planned or nuthin'." He began to walk out.

"Hey, mind telling me what you're working on, egghead?"  
Reed didn't answer. He was writing on a whiteboard, and furiously.

"Alrigh'. See yer busy." Ben shook his head and headed out, leaving Reed to his mysterious project.

* * *

Franklin walked slowly down the Xavier's Academy steps, looking sort of downcast. He crossed over the grassy lawns through crowds of other students to the car.

"You okay champ?" Ben asked as Franklin got in and slammed the car door shut.

"Fine." He crossed his arms and looked out his window.

Valeria leaned forward in her seat. "You had a bad day, huh? Me too."

Franklin's eyebrows drew together in a scowl. "No you didn't."  
"Yeah I did!"  
"Well mine was worse!"

Ben rolled his eyes. This was why he didn't have kids.

Franklin resumed his moody silence and Valeria also went quiet. She knew when not to push her brother. His temper tantrums could be destructive.

"So…Anything cool goin' on today?" Ben asked tentatively.

Franklin shook his head. "Only the stupid football tryouts."

"Ah." Ben had been on the football team once. Those were his college days, protecting Reed, hanging with all the hot babes…But that was all over for him now. He had a new life. Saving the world, looking after kids, protecting Reed…

"I didn't make the team," said Franklin suddenly, interrupting Ben's flashbacks.

"How come? You're good at football." It was the truth. Besides his super mental abilities,

Franklin was also an athlete. He ran a mile or two every day, along with playing on the soccer and football teams when he was younger.

"I…fell down."

Ben knew it was more than that. His common sense practically screamed it. However, it wasn't good to pry into teenager's lives. They were awfully protective about it sometimes.

"Mhm. That stinks." Ben pulled into the underground parking at the Baxter. They didn't often use the normal car, but Franklin insisted on being picked up in it, since he didn't want to stand out as a rich kid. No one does.

"Well, actually, someone pushed me." Franklin admitted quietly.

"Was it Saniel?" Valeria asked suddenly.

_Ah. The bully/jock,_ thought Ben. It wasn't entirely fair, really, since Franklin played sports too. But with great mental prowess comes great suffering.

"Yeah," Franklin grunted. "He's such a jerk."

Valeria grinned evilly. "You should make him act like a chicken."  
"I'll make _you_ act like a chicken if you don't shut up!" Franklin yelled.

Valeria looked down, frowning.

"Hey, that wasn't nice-"

They heard a giant explosion. Ben immediately grabbed the kids, one under each arm, and ran toward the Baxter elevator. It went from the underground parking to any floor, and, consequently, had the most security. It scanned Ben in about two seconds and allowed him inside. As the doors closed Ben was grateful for Reed's modification of all the elevators, so they'd accommodate Ben's colossal weight. Being rocky and strong didn't exactly put you on the light side.

As the elevator reached ground level, they were given a view of the surrounding Manhattan, courtesy of the glass walls in the elevator.

Ben scanned the city quickly, looking for trouble. Then he noticed a few rings in the sky, and the receding shape of the Fantasti-car.

"Oh." He put the kids down, an action for which they were grateful.

"Where's Dad heading?" Valeria asked.

Franklin closed his eyes. "Africa."


	2. Chapter 2

Reed hopped out of the Fantasticar, and practically ran the whole way to the office

Reed hopped out of the Fantasticar, and practically ran the whole way to the office.  
It was a stark white building, crumbling almost to pieces after years and years of wear and tear. As he rushed to the door, Reed made a mental note to totally remodel the place.  
"Ivan, Ivan!"  
Reed burst into the office, his normally calm demeanor cracked to breaking point.  
A sallow-faced man looked up at Reed. He was sitting on the wooden floor, with a dying child's body in his arms.  
Reed dropped to his knees and ran a hand over the dark-skinned child's forehead.  
"No fever...no fever." Reed's scientist mode kicked in, saving him from an anxiety attack. He ran to the cupboards over on the wall and began to pull out medicines and needles and other assorted medical equipment.  
"Reed," Ivan said softly. "No medicine will help her."  
Reed glared at the doctor. "Let me be the judge of that." He put a hand to the girl's wrist. "I've tried, Reed. I have. There's only one explanation for this."  
Reed stopped what he was doing. "You aren't saying...Not after..."

"Reed, it was a foreign substance. No amount of tests could ever give us true results." Ivan blinked. "Your remendium is killing them."

* * *

Sue sighed and brushed back her hair. She really did like to shop, especially with her bottomless pit of a credit card, but enough was enough. She had to get home.  
"Mary Jane, I've been away from home all day. The kid's are probably starving."  
Mary Jane applied some lipstick and smacked her lips."I thought you left Reed and Ben with them?"

"Yeah," Sue sighed. "But even Ben has only so much patience."

* * *

"Come on, one more game?" Valeria giggled.  
Ben growled. "Valeria, I told you, I've got stuff to do!"  
"Hey look at this, guys!" Franklin bounded down the stairs into the living room. He took a flying leap from the bottom stair, landed on the top of the couch, flipped and landed on his feet in front of the TV.  
"Ta-da!" Franklin grinned.  
Ben scowled. "Do you know how _dangerous_ that was? Now Valeria's gonna want to-"

"Wheeeee!" Valeria landed on the back of the couch, and sort of slipped down to the floor. "That was fun!"  
"ARGH!" Ben picked up Valeria and Franklin, one in each gigantic hand. "That's it! You are going _to your rooms!_"

* * *

When the elevator opened onto her floor, all was dark and silent. The lights were off in the main room, and in the kitchen, but Sue could hear faint talking from the living room.  
She kicked off her shoes and walked across the linoleum and through a doorway.  
Sue smiled.  
The TV was on to some Disney movie, and it was still going, softly. Ben lay on the couch, snoring like a steam train. Franklin leaned on one side of him, fast asleep, and Valeria was curled up in the crook of Ben's arm.  
Sue shook her head and turned the TV off. She would have left the kids there, but she decided it might be safer to put them in their own beds.  
Sue picked up Valeria, and Ben stirred a little, but didn't wake. Sue walked silently into Valeria's purple-ish room and tucked her youngest child into bed.  
"Sleep tight," she whispered.  
When Sue went back into the living room, Franklin was awake. He walked up beside his mother and they went to his room.  
"So, how was your day?" Sue asked as she closed his curtains.  
Franklin shrugged and got into bed. "Not bad, I guess."  
Sue sat down on the edge of his bed and looked at him. "Really?"  
Franklin looked away. How did Mom's know? "Dad's in Africa, by the way."  
Sue stood up. "And he didn't tell me?!"  
"It was kinda urgent, I guess." Franklin snuggled down. "Night Mom."

Sue flicked off the light. "Night."

* * *

Reed buried his face in his hands. "There's no way to counteract it, is there?"  
"That's what I would ask you," Ivan said somberly. They stood in a small, dark room. The walls were mostly chalkboards, all of which were covered in numbers and calculations.  
Reed sighed. "Here, try this. It may halt the affects, at least for a while." He handed the scientist a bottle of clear liquid.  
"I'm going to go home and see if I can find a cure to this...Cure."  
As Reed turned to go, Ivan put a hand on his shoulder. "Reed, if this doesn't end well, I don't blame you. They...were dying anyway. They knew it was experimental."

Reed closed his eyes. "I was supposed to cure them. It was my job. And all I've done is make it worse. I blame myself."

He disappeared out the door and into the moonlight.

* * *

Sue was standing on the landing pad when Reed touched down. He stepped out and shook his head.  
"Long day?" Sue asked, something hidden in her voice.  
"I am sorry I didn't tell you I was going, but it was kind of urgent." Reed looked sort of downcast.  
Sue's malice immediately flew out the window. "What happened?"  
"My cure didn't work."  
Sue's eyes lit up."Oh! The remendium. The stuff you got from another dimension?"

Reed nodded. "That...stuff."

Sue put an arm around her husband and they walked inside. "I'm sorry."

Reed slipped out from her embrace and looked at the ground. "No, I'm sorry. I've got to get to work right away." With that, he hurried to his lab.

Sue headed to the bedroom. What could she do to help?

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and early. Sue expected to find Reed slumped over his work, tired beyond belief, but to her surprise, he was as wide-awake as ever. His hands went at lightning speed over the whiteboards and keyboards. Information put here, results here...  
"Argh!" he growled with frustration. "I keep coming up with _nothing_!"  
Sue sat down next to Reed and was about to say some comforting words when Franklin came in.  
"Wha'cha working on, Dad?" he asked, rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"A cure, son, a cure," Reed replied, stretching an arm out to grab some papers that had been printing.  
"A cure to what?" Franklin was alert now. His Dad's projects were always interesting.  
"A cure to a cure. I thought my remendium would fix and eliminate all problems. However, all it seems to be doing is causing more. I should have known that a substance from another dimension was unreliable. It's alien to our systems!" He said this last part mostly to himself as he jotted down some notes.  
Sue glanced at Franklin, who seemed deep in thought.  
"Well, there's your answer, Dad."  
"What?" Reed glanced up at his son.  
"If the disease came from another dimension, then so will the cure." Franklin leaned against the lab's doorframe.  
Reed blinked, and Sue swore she could see a light bulb appear above his head.  
"That's genius!" He swiveled around, erased everything, and began to work anew.  
"Yeah... I know." Franklin smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

A strong hum reverberated throughout the entire Baxter Building. Sue, who had been attempting to brush her teeth, slammed the brush down and stomped into Reed's laboratory.  
"Could you KEEP IT DOWN?!" Sue yelled over the din.

Reed pushed a button and the humming ceased. He pushed up his lab goggles.  
"Sorry, Sue, but inter-dimensional travel is kind of loud."

Sue rolled her eyes angrily and left.

Reed, not particularly noticing her frustration, went back to completing his tests.

* * *

After delivering the children to school, Sue didn't really feel like going home. It was too _lonely_, really. Reed would be in his lab all day long, which would leave Sue with zero sociality for the day. Parking the car in some shopping mall's lot, Sue meandered around New York for a while. It was always so busy, so fast, it was impossible to feel alone. But Sue did anyway.

She walked down to Central Park, and sat on a bench for a while, gazing out at a pond. It was so quiet, even though cars raced by on the streets, people talked and yelled, birds chirped and the wind blew.

Sue closed her eyes. This place sort of reminded her of where she had gotten married. A nice, peaceful spot. She smiled to herself. Reed could be so romantic when he wanted to, but it seemed, most of the time, that he cared very little about anything.

What did Reed care about? The world obviously. He'd devoted his life to saving it, any way he could.  
Was Sue the world to him?  
"Hey, uh lady, that's my bench."  
Sue's eyes flashed open and she saw a tired, dirty old woman who was carrying some shopping bags.

"Oh, sorry.' Sue stood up and began to walk away.  
_He saves the world…Any way he can._

Sue turned around and stepped back toward the bench. "Um…Here." She handed the poor lady a wad of cash. "Buy yourself something nice."  
The lady's eyes glowed. "Thank you, Ma'am."  
Sue grinned and turned away.

* * *

Franklin stepped backwards, up against a wall. _Stupid! _he thought. If there was anything Uncle Ben had driven into his brain, it was not to get backed up against a wall.

Saniel smiled at his enemy's disadvantage.  
"Well, Franklin, I think it's time you apologized for tripping me yesterday."  
Saniel was all by himself. There wasn't the standard bully group of stupid idiots…there was just Saniel. The jock.

"I didn't trip you," Franklin muttered. "You tripped me."  
Saniel growled. "You think you're so much better than everyone else, Richards. Just 'cause your Dad's a famous mutant. Do you think that makes you better?! Or what?! No! It just makes you a spoiled rich kid!"  
Franklin closed his eyes. "I am _not _who am I just because of my father's reputation." His eyes flashed open. "I am who am I because that's who I choose to be. If you think I'm better than you, then that's your thoughts, not mine."  
"ARGH!" Saniel jumped forward. "You're gonna regret that!"  
"It's the truth," Franklin whispered. "And that's all anyone ever needs to say." He ducked out of the way of the punch and landed on his feet behind Saniel. The jock ran into the wall and fell down, stunned.

Franklin shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away.

* * *

Johnny put on his sunglasses and smiled a dazzling pearly-white grin at his latest girl.  
"Sorry, babe, but I gotta fly."  
The olive-skinned, dark-haired beauty nodded and wiped away a tear. Johnny leaned forward and kissed her. Maybe he'd see her again sometime. Who knew?  
"Flame on!"  
And he was gone in a trail of fire.

* * *

Ben flipped through soap operas and sumo wrestling (both of which resembled the other) and finally stopped on the news. Everyone was busy today, so that meant he'd actually get to watch some news the Fantastic Four _wasn't_ a part of.

"This just in!" announced a reporter. "Asteroids land in Nevada!"  
_Psh._ Thought Ben. I've_ landed in Nevada before._

"No signs of alien life. Phew. You had me worried there for a second, Barbara," said the dashingly handsome news anchor.

"And in other news, celebrity pop star Miley-"  
Ben coughed in disgust and changed the channel. Sci-Fi had some kind of in-depth story of Doctor Strange going on. Ben settled back into the couch. It couldn't hurt to know more about his fellow superheroes.  
"After a devastating car crash that nearly ruined his career…"  
That was how Johnny found him, asleep on the couch.  
Johnny, who was feeling a bit immature, ran over and hid behind the couch.  
"Benjamin, Benjamin!" he called, in the girliest voice he could conjure.  
Ben sat straight up on the couch.  
"Who…Who is it?"  
"Oh, Benjamin! Come help me! I'm outside the window!"  
Ben immediately stood and rushed over to the window.  
Johnny couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.  
"Hey!" Ben pivoted around. "YOU!"  
Johnny stood. "It was I." He put a hand to his chest. "Who else has the mental prowess to totally humiliate you…from behind a couch?"  
Ben folded his arms to his chest. "How'd your ninja training go?"  
Johnny became serious. "Not good. The guy wouldn't even let me sleep half the time."  
"That's cause you sleep _half the time_," Ben shook his head. "Lemme guess…You were distracted?"  
Johnny grinned. "And man she was beautiful."

Ben headed toward the kitchen. "Wanna eat something?"  
"Yeah, I'm starved." Johnny sat in a chair and put his feet up. "Cereal, please, my rocky friend."

BWASH! The cereal box rammed into Johnny, spilling its contents all over.  
"Thank you."

* * *

Reed rubbed his eyes. The portal was up and working again, the calculations looked sound, and they'd been tested about a hundred times. But something was still missing.

Reed couldn't allow anything to go wrong. The last time he'd used this portal, it ended up imploding, leaving a black scorch mark on the floor. It had delivered the remendium, however.  
The dimension Reed had discovered was made mostly of elements, just floating in empty space. These elements were very strange, with odd properties that pretty much only existed in the other dimension, which Reed had not thought of a name for yet.

If Reed input certain numbers, which, together, stood for properties and components of these alien elements, his computer would tell him if such an element existed.  
After a few months of working on code and other technical things, Reed discovered remendium. He used the portal to retrieve it.  
Remendium existed, in both dimensions, as a liquid. However, in the other dimension, it was a very uncreative element. Most were there. But in Reed's dimension, the remendium was very eager to combine with almost any substance it encountered. The only ones it seemed to ignore were ones that are not alloys. They had to be pure substances. That left out glass, most metals, and pretty much any container Reed had on hand. Eventually, Reed settled on a beaker made out of pure titanium.

The remendium, in theory, could cure any disease by simply being injected into an organism's system. It would seek to restore homeostasis, in a hyperactive way. It would spontaneously create any chemical needed for restoration to normal. It was a cure-all.  
After many, many tests, all Reed's results turned out positive. It worked.

And the people who needed it the most, as his friend Ivan said, were the poor, sick people in Africa and third-world countries.  
So, with his limited supply, Reed set out to save the world.

Only, it hadn't worked.

Reed closed his eyes and rested his head on the table. He'd already complied the list of numbers that represented an element that would neutralize the remendium. He had even located it in the other dimension with his computer. But what he still did not understand was why the remendium hadn't _worked_.

It had, though. Reed stayed there for weeks, working with patients, watching as the remendium cured them of all that ailed them. Reed had left the rest in the hands of Ivan, since they had then known that it worked for a surety.

And then…The first subject just died.  
They studied and studied the patient. She had been totally healed, and then, it seemed, something had totally burned away what had been fixed, and kept burning.

Reed hit a button on his command board. The portal whirred to life. He only needed enough of this stuff to counteract the remendium left in the patients.  
Then he would send the remaining samples of the elements back where they belonged.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben shook his head up and down.  
Johnny gave his rocky friend a sideways glance. "Ben…This song is whack."  
Ben turned around. "Just because _you_ have no taste in music."  
Johnny stuck his hands in his sweater pockets. "At least I'm not tone-deaf, jeez. But I understand, seeing how you don't have any ears." He snickered.

Ben growled.  
Johnny shrugged and walked out of the living room. He had other things to do.

Ben sunk down into the couch and sighed. It was Saturday and all was quiet. The kids and Sue were at the park with Alicia, and Reed was in his lab.

Ben blew out a breath. A nap was calling.

* * *

Reed looked up into the portal, and in a detached sort of way he wondered at the supreme power of his creation. A blue shudder ran through the electric device and liquid began to condense on walls of the chamber Reed had prepared to catch the element.

He called this new substance 'eradicum', as he hoped that it would erase his mistake. In its pure form, it still needed a few tweaks before it'd be safe to test.

Reed stood up and stretched, trying to ready himself for the extensive testing that was imminent.

"Alright, time to fix things." He pressed a button.

* * *

Johnny strolled around downtown Manhattan, feeling carefree. He began thinking about his life, but was jolted from his introspection by an explosion a block away.

Without hesitation, Johnny jumped up and shouted "Flame on!" and rocketed towards the disturbance. He halted, still floating a few feet above the concrete, and examined the scene.

A car had slammed into a gas pump, and flames licked at the ground. It'd only be seconds before the whole place became ball of fire.

Johnny grinned. Piece of cake.

He extended a hand and the fire fizzled out across the street. Johnny hovered for a second, feeling satisfied, when someone shouted.

"AUGH!" a civilian screamed. "The Terror!"  
Johnny turned. "What the-"  
A giant rock slammed into his back, throwing the Human Torch into a building.

Johnny, flames extinguished, groaned and tried to push the rock off him. Glass and wood lay shattered around him, and people continued screaming.

A shadow fell across Johnny, and he looked vaguely up at his attacker.

"Hey, Torch. Wanna rock?"  
Johnny muttered something in a low voice.

"What was that?" His enemy leaned down to hear.

"I've heard better…puns…from _Ben_."

Johnny, in a moment of pure concentration, heated up the rock that trapped him to hundreds of degrees Celsius. The Terror, who had had his gloved hands on the rock, recoiled, screaming.

"Play with fire, you're gonna get burned," said Johnny as the rock melted off him.  
The Terror kicked over a fire hydrant, and thrust his hands into the water spout. Johnny, not wanting his attacker to have any time to recover, flamed into the air, and started throwing balls of fire.

Some died out in the water, but most hit their mark. The Terror shouted again and threw his whole body into the water, trying to rid himself of the burning pain.

* * *

Sue cocked her head. "Did you hear something, Alicia?"  
"Sounds like screaming," the blind woman replied. She was currently working on a puzzle by feel. She was doing pretty well, actually, but Franklin still liked to help her out. He was pushing a piece that Alicia was searching for towards the lady's hand.

Sue gritted her teeth. "Kids, be good. I'll be right back. And if I'm not…" She waved toward Alicia.

Franklin nodded. "Yeah, okay." He'd taken Alicia home before.

As Sue sprinted off, she had to reassure herself that her children would be fine. They could protect themselves and Alicia if they had to, and they knew how to get home.

"It's just so hard to let them go," she muttered.

* * *

Johnny flitted about in the sky, watching his unmoving opponent. The Terror lay on the ground near where the hydrant used to be.

"What a wimp," Johnny said, gliding down beside him. "Can't take a little fight-back…"

As soon as Johnny was near enough, The Terror lashed out, grabbing for Johnny's foot.

Luckliy, Johnny was still on his toes and he managed to get away before the Terror broke his leg.  
Sue chose this moment to encased The Terror in an invisible mind-shield. However, he didn't continue fighting. He just gave up.

Johnny landed next to Sue.  
"Yeah, I had that guy beat," he said cockily.

Sue shook her head. "Yeah, whatever."

* * *

Reed stared at the vial of clear liquid. He'd done seventy tests so far. Only about 1,347 to go.

He looked down at his charts and blinked. His vision was swimming. The number swirled and morphed into strange shapes. When he glanced up, the flashing lights on his monitors formed odd and mesmerizing patterns.

Touching a hand to his head, Reed mused.  
"Not enough…sleep," he said, blinking. "Maybe if I take…Just a minute…"  
His head slumped down and his right hand fell to the desk, knocking some pens to the ground.  
"No time to sleep!" he attempted to say, but it came out as a garbled mash of words. Using his last reserves of strength, Reed pulled himself up and grabbed the vial of liquid. His purpose was there, in his mind, but it shimmered like a mirage.  
"Got to…test…" Reed tried to reach up to put the vial in its holder, but his eyes closed at the exact moment, and the vial slipped out of his hand and crashed to the floor, shattering.

For Reed, the world was going black. He'd never been this tired before. Had he?  
Glass bit into his legs as he fell to the floor.

* * *

Sue and Johnny had cleaned up the mess the Terror had caused, made sure he was well on his way to jail, and then went to pick up the kids. They were still sitting in the café, looking sort of bored. Franklin had long since helped Alicia finish the puzzle, and put it away. Valeria was spying on fellow shoppers and pretending they were spies.

"Hey guys!" said Johnny as they came up to the table. "Guess what I just did? Well, your Mom helped, but it was mostly me…"

Sue had totally shut out Johnny's chatter. Consequently, she wasn't paying much attention to her auditory senses when Franklin shouted something.

"What'd you say?" said Sue absent-mindedly.

"I said: Dad's in trouble!"

Sue perked up immediately. "Alright, everyone to the car!"

Johnny, for once, had nothing to say. He grabbed Alicia's hand and the group headed to the parking lot.

* * *

Sue reached the lab first. She looked around and noticed a lot of broken shards of glass on the ground, along with Reed's tired form.

"Reed!" she shouted.

Franklin ran up behind his mother, and lifted Reed up from the ground telekinetically.

"What happened?" asked Johnny. "Experiment gone awry?"

"Hey! Look at that!" said Valeria.

Where the glass had pierced his skin, blood had been flowing freely. However, now, the wounds were sealing back up- by themselves.

"Weird…" Johnny breathed.

Reed's eyes opened and he shook his head. Franklin put him down and Reed walked over to them.

"Yes, did you need something?" Reed asked, as if nothing had happened.

"What happened?!" Sue demanded.

Reed looked back at the mess of his lab. "Uh…I only remember…falling. I was really tired."  
Sue rolled her eyes.

"Oh no!" Reed rushed back to the shards of glass on the floor.

Johnny looked at Franklin. "When Reed says that- something's definitely wrong."

Reed was trying to mop up a clear liquid from the floor, without touching it. Then he noticed another liquid- a blue one- had mixed with the clear.

"Oh…" Reed closed his eyes.

Franklin walked a little way into the lab. "Hey Dad, if it means anything, you were lying in that mess."

"But then I'd have-" Reed felt his arms.

"So, did you ever find that cure?" asked Franklin.

Reed turned around slowly. "I…think so."


End file.
